


This Can't Be Real

by Howlingdawn



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie), Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie) Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 12:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19464211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Howlingdawn/pseuds/Howlingdawn
Summary: FAR FROM HOME SPOILERS AHEAD. After Mysterio's final act, Happy finds and reassures Peter that they'll protect him. Truth is, though, he's just as scared as the kid.





	This Can't Be Real

**Author's Note:**

> FFH was so close to chasing away the Endgame depression WHEN THEY HIT ME WITH T H A T MID-CREDITS SCENE. HOW DARE THEY.
> 
> New trauma aside, I loved this movie. Not as much Happy & Peter content as I thought there would be, but every second of it was GOLDEN. THE H U G. That scene was everything my whumper heart ever wanted and more. So, naturally, I had to make more Happy & Peter content. Hope you enjoy!

After Mysterio's video, Happy found Peter in a disgusting alleyway, hiding between a pair of dumpsters. "Here," he said, giving him a bag with a change of clothes inside. "Get dressed."

Peter moved warily, peeking out at the street before standing and grabbing the bag. Happy moved between him and the street, praying nobody would walk by. Thankfully, no one did, and when he finished changing, Happy tucked him under one arm and led him to the car. He gunned it back to the compound.

Wanda was waiting for them. "Get inside," she said the moment Happy opened the door.

Happy jumped out, moving quickly, but Peter moved like a zombie. His eyes were wide and blank, lips moving as he mouthed something to himself over and over and over again. "Hurry up, kid," Happy urged, moving around to take him by the shoulder.

Wanda took Peter's other side, glancing over her shoulder. Scarlet flickered in her eyes a moment before Happy heard distant sirens. "They're coming."

Happy moved faster, yanking the door open and half-dragging Peter inside. Pepper was waiting in the lobby, and she reached out to take Peter as soon as he was in reach. "I'll take you upstairs, kid. They can't touch you in here."

Peter stumbled after her.

Happy turned to Wanda. "What's going through his head?"

She shook her head. "I… I don't know. It's like a tornado – I can't break through the wind to see what's inside."

Happy's heart sank, but he pushed aside that concern for the moment. "Can you really hold them off?"

"I can make them go away."

He stared. "Wanda, you _hate_ that ability."

"I do," she said. Her hand went briefly to her neck, a light touch that she tried to disguise by brushing her hair back. "But I also know what the government does to superpowered people they see as a threat. I won't let them near him."

Happy blanched, remembering what Natasha had told him Ross did to Wanda after the airport battle. Straitjacket, shock collar, and solitary confinement with no hope of release. "Surely they would-"

"Take into account that he's a kid?" Wanda's eyes flashed. "I was 18 when they locked me up. They didn't even hesitate."

Happy swallowed, seeing the flashing red and blue lights approaching rapidly. "Right."

Pepper came back downstairs, heels clacking in the deliberate stride that meant she was ready to do battle. "I have loopholes to exploit before we may have to resort to other measures. Rhodey is at May's to protect her and their apartment. At the very least, we'll buy him a little time. At best, they'll never arrest him before confirming the accusation is false."

She pulled her hair into a ponytail and straightened her dress, pushing back every stray strand and brushing out every wrinkle, but before she put on her game face, she touched Happy's arm. "Go talk to Peter," she murmured. "He's not doing well."

Happy nodded. As the women marched to the door to meet the police outside, he hurried upstairs and into the room Peter had always stayed in whenever he spent the weekend working in the lab with Tony.

He found Peter sitting on the bed, head held in his hands, rocking back and forth. "This isn't real," he mumbled. "This isn't real this isn't real this isn't real this can't be real-"

"Peter?" Happy said, carefully shutting the door behind him. "Pete?"

Peter shook his head. "You're not real. You're- you can't be real."

Happy sat on the end of the bed. "That song I played on the jet when you started making your new suit? That was AC/DC. Not Led Zeppelin."

He stopped rocking abruptly. Lifting his head with a sniffle, he squinted at Happy through tear-filled eyes. "It's… it's really you?"

Happy reached out, resting a hand on Peter's knee. "Yeah, kid. It's me."

"No," Peter whispered. He ducked his head again, twisting his fingers into his hair. "Then- then that means- the _whole world_ knows- and they- they think-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Happy said, scooting closer to get Peter's fingers out of his hair. The kid squeezed his hand too hard instead, but he didn't care – better Peter break Happy's hand than hurt himself. "We'll protect you, kid."

"And Mr. Beck said he was a friend! He said- he said- _This can't be real_."

Peter turned wide, distressed eyes on Happy, and Happy wanted nothing more than to haul Beck out of hell to punch him in the face _repeatedly_. "You know me, Pete," he reassured him, voice quiet and steady. "You know me, and Pepper, and May, and Rhodey. Ross and his goons will have to get through us, politics and armor and all, before they get to you."

Peter just kept staring, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I don't know what's real anymore," he rasped. "I don't know who to trust."

"Come here," Happy murmured, wrapping an arm around Peter. The kid dove into his arms, shaking and clinging to him. " _This_ is real, Pete. This is real, and you can trust me. You can trust Pepper, who loves you as her own. You can trust May, who would take you and run before letting Ross get his hands on you. You can trust Rhodey, and Wanda, and Ned, and MJ. We won't turn our backs on you, kid. _Never_."

"P-promise?" Peter mumbled.

"I promise, Pete. I promise."

Peter nodded, pressing his face into Happy's chest and crying. Happy held him, tucking his head under his chin, rubbing his back, silently daring anyone to walk through the door with the intent to take Peter from him.

\-----

Happy didn't know exactly how long they sat like that for, but Peter had stopped crying and was waiting in silent, blank-eyed dread for news when Pepper finally came inside. She kicked off her heels and sat beside them, rubbing Peter's shoulder. "They're leaving. Wanda's outside making sure of it."

"Really?" Peter croaked.

She nodded. "I pointed out how there are hundreds of Peter Parkers in the U.S. alone, and how Beck clearly couldn't have made the video himself, and your face was never shown, so whoever edited it and picked you was likely guessing. Not to mention Beck's proven habit of lying on a grand scale. That should keep them busy for a while."

Before Peter showed any signs of relaxing, he found Pepper's hand and squeezed it. She smiled, leaning down and whispering something into his ear. Only then did he let out a massive breath, his eyes falling shut. Pepper pressed a gentle kiss to his hair, rubbing her thumb in circles against the back of his hand.

Footsteps came running down the hall. "Peter!" May cried.

Peter lifted his head immediately, relief flooding into his eyes. Happy and Pepper moved aside, letting May scoop her nephew into her arms. She pressed a long kiss to his forehead. "I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you."

She looked up at Happy and Pepper. "Thank you," she whispered.

Happy squeezed her shoulder. "Any time, May. You know that."

In the doorway, Rhodey tipped his head to the hallway. Pepper touched Happy's arm and he nodded. "I'll be right back, Pete."

Only when he nodded did Happy follow Pepper and Rhodey into the hallway, shutting the door behind him. Pepper glanced up. "Friday, activate Quiet Protocol for Peter's room, please."

Once Friday assured them that the kid's enhanced hearing wouldn't hear them, Happy asked "What's it like out there?"

Rhodey crossed his arms, shaking his head. "There are already people in the streets calling for the kid's blood. The cops showed up to their apartment but didn't have a search warrant, so that bought us time to get incriminating stuff out of there. It won't work forever, but it's a start."

Pepper nodded. "I've had Friday start sifting through security footage. They'll blur out Peter's face when he's in the suit, bleep out any mention of him being Spider-Man, alter his voice, and put in a code to wipe the footage if anyone tries to undo any of those measures. I can call it… the Identity Security Protocol."

"Then the only people who could tell on him are people," Rhodey said. "Smart. But if they look into the code…"

"We just need to buy time, don't we?" Happy asked. "If they take him to trial and we can successfully get the jury to say there's reasonable doubt, he can't be tried again."

"Assuming they follow the letter of the law. Peter is a superpowered individual who, as far as they believe, has been able to kill another superpowered person, and is a terrorist to boot. They didn't exactly give Wanda and the others a trial under less severe circumstances than that." Rhodey sighed, pressing a hand to his spine. "This might not even be tried in America. Everything Beck did was on foreign soil. If the government agrees, he'd be tried in The Hague."

Happy scrubbed his hands down his face. "God. This is like the Accords all over again."

Pepper took his hand into hers and squeezed. "We won't let that happen again. Not to him."

Happy looked back at the door, towards the kid inside. Towards the 16-year-old who had lost a mother and three fathers, who had been betrayed by a fourth father figure, who had been killed and then had his mind played with until he forgot how to trust without question. The 16-year-old who was now on trial for using the legacy Tony had entrusted him with to commit murder and become a terrorist. A trial that could end with him locked away forever, alone, in a shock collar and straitjacket, surrounded only by people concerned only with keeping him contained.

_This can't be real._

**Author's Note:**

> I might do something more with that parallel of Wanda and Peter being locked up in the same (or at least similar) way, because I still D E S P I S E Ross for that and now I can't get the image of the same thing happening to Peter out of my head
> 
> (And I tried my best with the legal stuff, but 99.99% of my legal knowledge comes from cop and lawyer shows, which I'm sure aren't 100% accurate, so. I'm sure I probably got something wrong.)


End file.
